If you are a smoker and suffer from low back pain, you are not alone. The idea that smoking may be linked with low back pain has been around for quite some time. The key culprit here is nicotine, which limits blood flow throughout the body, including the spine. Chronic oxygen deprivation causes the discs to weaken. The result is malnourished and degenerated discs, which lead to pain. As a chronic smoker, the more you cough, the more you irritate the discs, which results in more low back pain.
If you are considering fusion surgery, your doctor will ask you if you smoke. This is important because nicotine damages the “bone-building cells”. In extreme cases, a surgeon may refuse to operate if the patient is a chronic smoker since smoking slows down healing after spinal surgery.